


Origin Story

by PeanutButterWhiskeyTime



Series: Mayday! Dragon Age Oneshots, Bingo-Inspired [1]
Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: All of the Origins Becomes Wardens, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Dragon Age Lore, Elvhen Pantheon, Gen, Grey Wardens, Hardened Alistair (Dragon Age), Multiple Wardens (Dragon Age)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:09:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23948929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeanutButterWhiskeyTime/pseuds/PeanutButterWhiskeyTime
Summary: The Wardens aren't the only superhero game in town, but if you want to fight the Blighted, cross the Rift, traverse the Roads, and come home to tell the tale, you better get on their good side.Tabris knows evil wears many faces.She's ready to commit, or die.Those are the only options.
Series: Mayday! Dragon Age Oneshots, Bingo-Inspired [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1726468
Kudos: 5





	Origin Story

“So, these are the new recruits.”

Tabris glanced at her compatriots from out of the side of her eyes but did not move from her loose parade rest. She wasn’t surprised that there were other elves and even dwarves, but she _was_ surprised that they outnumbered the humans. In total, there were three elves, two dwarves, and two humans in the chamber. She knew they had started with at least four humans today. She wondered idly which test the missing men had failed.

Her money was on the written.

It took more than brawn, whether magical or physical, to succeed in the Wardens.

“Yes, interesting looking lot, aren’t they?”

The two Wardens facing them looked as different as two members of the same species could. The first speaker was on the shorter side of average, with dark skin and even darker hair. His well-kept beard could not hide his weather-beaten skin or the lines around his sharp eyes. The second speaker was significantly lighter in skin tone, though still dark for a redhead, and taller than anyone else in the room. His eyes were bright and cheerful, though no less sharp or watchful than the other man’s.

Brawn _and_ brain, she noted.

“I am Duncan, this is Alistair. Should you pass the final test, I will be your trainer.”

There was a quiet _click_ and then a _whumpf_ noise as a sigil on the floor lit up and blue flames exploded outward to engulf the walls. Tabris could not help her flinch, though at least she did not scream. She had expected something like this, after all-

“Should you fail the test, you will not leave this room alive.”

- _nobody_ spoke of the final test of the Wardens.

“Yes, well, don’t look so grim. What Duncan,” Alistair clapped the other man on the shoulder, “has failed to tell you is that we’ve gotten _much_ better at weeding out those who can’t survive the infusion. There we are then, that’s the big secret: you either get superpowers or die. We are here to make sure that dying happens quickly and with as little pain as possible. Think of it as a severance package, or mercy, whichever brings you more comfort.”

Duncan sighed, but didn’t actually disagree with anything the other man had said. “While we, as an organization, have worked on being more open with the public in the past few years, there are still certain things left to this moment, this place.”

“The rumors about eating more, running hot, more stamina for your sex life…” Alistair waggled his eyebrows at them. “All true.”

Duncan rolled his eyes. “Yes, _thank you_ , Alistair.”

“Unfortunately, so are some of the… _less_ savory rumors. Once upon a time, two women decided to found an organization dedicated to hunting the worst monsters the Rift had to offer. Their aim was to prevent incursions by hunting on the _other side_. That…didn’t work out so well.”

“They made many journeys and slew many monsters, but _over time_ , they both began to change,” Duncan continued the tale, dropping into a bard’s lilting cadence. “They were stronger, faster, could sense the Rift’s energies and even each other, but there were other changes too. Our founder, Andruil-“

Tabris gasped. She was not the only one.

“-became the mightiest hunter the world had ever known. Her lover, Ghilan’nain, became something to be hunted.”

“Or so the legend goes.” Alistair clapped his hands together to center their attention back on him, smiling brightly. “Now that we’ve blasphemed and you’ve heard the bedtime story, lets focus on the measurable _facts_. The infusion you will be taking is a concentrated dose of Rift energies alongside a cocktail of herbs and fungi designed to speed and ease the change, whatever it may be. If you show signs of Blighting, we will kill you.”

“Any questions?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Tabris saw two hands shoot up.

Duncan sighed. “Any questions about the _process_ , rather than the story of the founding?”

Both hands went down.

“I’ve got a question,” one of the dwarves, a scruffy man with a face full of ink, spoke up. “If we die during this ritual thing, do our families still get the money?”

“Yes.”

“Outstanding. Can we get this over with, then? Bedtime stories are great and all, but I’m ready to be done with this.”

“Any other questions?”

This time it was one of the other elves, a Dalish judging by his tattoos. “Could Tamlen-“

“No, Mahariel,” Duncan said gently.

The elf nodded once, then folded his arms and looked down, clearly done.

“If there are no further questions, then it is time.” Duncan turned towards one of the walls and gestured. The flames wavered briefly and then began flickering _down_ , as if they’d become a waterfall of fire. Something glowing appeared in the heart of the fire and Duncan reached for it, pulling a large carafe and a goblet from the flames.

Carefully, near _reverently_ , he poured something that smoked and glowed a poisonous green from the carafe into the goblet.

“Aeducan,” Duncan called.

The second dwarf, a woman with pristine braids and well-used but equally well-cared-for armor, came forward. She paused just before Duncan and looked over her shoulder at the other dwarf. “If I die-“

“Buried with all ceremony in the family crypt. I know the score, princess.”

“ _No_ ,” she said, scowling. “If I die, and _you live_ , tell my brother my last words were: ‘See you in hell, you backstabbing prick.’”

That brought the scruffy dwarf up short. There was a gleam in his eye, something that might have been respect, when he nodded. “Sure thing, princess.”

Aeducan nodded and turned back to Duncan. She took the goblet and downed the contents in one swallow. Five seconds later she was on the ground with light pouring from her mouth, eyes, nostrils, ears, and illuminating her very _bones_ so that they glowed blue-white through her skin. An eerie noise like a giant’s heartbeat reverberated from her chest, making everyone stagger from the intensity of the vibration.

As quickly as it started, it ended. Alistair knelt beside her and checked her pulse with one hand while the other arranged her into a slightly more comfortable position. “She’s fine,” he said after a moment. “Guess you won’t have to worry about remembering those last words, after all,” he told the other dwarf, flashing a smile with a shade too many teeth to be truly friendly.

Tabris spared a moment to wonder if there was history there.

“Amell.”

One of the two mages, the human, stepped forward. She was short for a human, just of a height with her elven companion. Her face was blank, but there was a set to her jaw that hinted at determination. She said nothing, merely nodded at Duncan and took the goblet. She paused, staring at its contents for a moment before rolling her shoulders and bringing it to her lips.

Amell shoved the goblet back in Duncan’s direction as soon as she finished. This time the change was more gradual: a slow build of heat emanating from the mage, ratcheting higher and higher until the flames on the walls reached out, encompassing her. The other mage cried out and started to move forward, but Alistair was quick to grab him before he could reach Amell.

“There’s nothing you can do,” he said, not unkindly. “ _Wait_.”

Eventually the flames receded, not sucked back into the wall but disappearing into Amell’s body, revealing her form crumpled on the ground. Alistair released the elf and moved with him to check on her.

“She’s alive,” the elf sighed.

“She’ll be fine,” Alistair agreed. He carefully lifted the woman and moved a few steps to lay her down beside Aeducan.

“Brosca, are you ready?”

“Anything the princess can do, I can,” he said. He had taken the goblet and drank the contents before Alistair and the mage had had a chance to move away from the unconscious women. “ _Eugh_ , that tastes like-“

Rock rose from the ground and encompassed him before he could finish. The ground rolled beneath their feet, sending them all stumbling back as the rocky cocoon grew and grew until it encompassed fully a third of the room. When it at last began to crumble, the flames on the walls reached out and smoothed it down till the ground was flat again. Brosca was unconscious on the ground.

Tabris cocked her head to one side, studying him. He seemed _larger_ , and something about his skin-

Alistair blocked her view when he moved the dwarf to rest with the others.

“Cousland.”

The second of the two humans, this one obviously noble for all that he was wearing leathers, came forward.

Tabris looked away. Nobles, especially human ones-

She scowled at the flames on the wall and bit her lip to keep from growling something uncouth.

Whatever transformation he went through was quiet and quick. She didn’t look back until Alistair pronounced the man fine. A small part of her was relieved. She hadn’t wished ill on him, per se, but her feelings were complicated and the less she had to think about the man, the better. It was done, and he had lived. Next was-

“Mahariel.”

The Dalish elf nodded sharply and moved forward to accept the goblet. Before he drank he made eye contact with Tabris and the remaining mage, saying something soft and lilting in Elvhen. Tabris didn’t know what the words meant, but something in the tone or the solemn look on his face made her nod at him. The mage outright _bowed_.

Mahariel dropped the goblet the moment he was done, body going rigid. Before their eyes he seemed almost to _fade_ , until the flicker of flames behind him was visible and he had disappeared but for a faint outline. The next they saw him he was on the ground. Tabris paid more attention to his looks and noted that his hair had darkened from an earthy brown to true black. Any other physical changes were hidden by his armor.

Duncan knelt beside him to gather up the goblet and check on him. “He lives. Surana?”

The elvhen mage nodded, and took the goblet. Before he drank he turned to Tabris: “To your health, my lady.”

His smile was contagious. Tabris refused to be more than a little charmed. “Drink up, _my lord_.”

He winked at her and drank. “That is _foul_ -“ He swiped at his tongue with his fingers as if to physically brush the taste away. Instead, his fingers melted, his entire body dropping to the ground as an amorphous mercury-like blob that twisted and writhed in place. _Things_ seemed to press against the blob from within, their outline pressing up against the surface before receding. Claws, feathers, fangs, scales, mouths, tails, every imaginable thing and a few Tabris had no name for.

And then Surana came exploding from the silver. He stared straight at her, eyes wide and blank. “Well then,” he murmured, and dropped.

“Points for drama,” Alistair said cheerfully once he’d ascertained that the mage lived.

“Tabris,” Duncan called her name.

There were none left to witness her save the two Wardens. Someone had to be the last, for some reason she hadn’t thought of that. She reached for the goblet. She stared at the smoking green liquid. It hissed and spat in the goblet, sounding almost like an angry beast.

It felt like mud going down her throat.

And then-

**Author's Note:**

> Aeducan, Brosca = warriors  
> Amell, Surana = mages  
> Cousland, Mahariel, Tabris = rogues
> 
> I have very vague ideas about where this could go and how the Lore works (hint: Wardens are kind of wrong about their origins and the origin of the Blighted, but they're not ENTIRELY wrong). Potential pairings are all over the place and really depend on how the rest of the OG Companions fit into the Warden squad.
> 
> Other "hero" outfits in this AU:  
> Enchanters Collegium  
> The Chevalier  
> The Hounds
> 
> Neutral organizations:  
> Crows  
> Red Jennies  
> House of Repose  
> Seekers
> 
> Bad guys:  
> Blighted  
> Archonites  
> The Scaled Ones


End file.
